To train any animal, be it a dog, cat or horse, the behaviour of the animal must be understood. Successful training involves two aspects:

1. The animal being trained, and

2. The trainer.

A bond between trainer and animal must be developed so that the reponses of each become predictable. The animal learns that the trainer will respond predictably when it offers certain behaviours, i.e. the trainer will offer rewards. Similarly the trainer learns that reinforcing the desired response makes them more likely to be repeated in the future. Some people never make successful trainers and it is very difficult to describe and measure the quality that makes someone a successful trainer. That said, the merits of timing and consistency are clear.

Most good trainers work on two principles:

1. Positive reinforcement, whenever possible, rather than punishment – however mild.

2. The animal is taught to perform a natural motor pattern even to an exaggerated extent. This is easier than trying to teach an animal something alien and means that the trainer must have a knowledge of the animal’s natural behaviour as well as its likely responses to different situations.

Reinforcement is a reward for desired behaviour and gives the trainer a means of control over the behaviour of the animal. Whenever a particular activity is reinforced, the chances of that activity being repeated are increased. To be effective, a reinforcement must be given almost simultaneously with (and certainly never before) the desired behaviour.

This section will look at various training methods and discuss:

1. Training cattle to lead

2. Training sheep and cattle dogs

3. Training guide dogs

4. Training pet dogs

5. The Jeffrey method of horse training

The approaches published here are offered as an historical record. For a comprehensive analysis of training principles, readers are directed to the ‘training’ section of www.animalbehaviour.net

Training Cattle to Lead

This is useful when leading cattle in a show ring.

Dairy heifers, although commonly used to man, may be frightened of halters and resist being led (Craig, 1981). After becoming habituated to the halter and lead rope by being tied, they can be led about by using some force if they are small.

Another method, the Australian bullock method (Craig, 1981; Wilson et al,1975) involves tying heifers together in pairs matched for similar size. One heifer wears a leather collar and the other a halter; the collar and halter are attached by a short chain (about 50 cm long). The animal wearing the collar determines where the pair goes, and during the first two days the leader-following pairing is reversed twice a day; thereafter reversals are made daily. After seven or eight days of training most heifers can be easily led by a person. A few animals need longer training and occasionally an animal may never learn to be led by a person. After learning to respond to a minimum pull on the lead rope, the heifers are as easily led by a person as by another heifer.

The use of a donkey to teach stud cattle to lead has been reported in the press (Country Life, 1 July, 1982). A donkey was tied to a Brahman calf (5 months old) by attaching a strong, short (30 cm) chain from the calf's headstall to the donkey's neckband. The pair were led for a short time and then allowed to move on their own. This method is claimed to be very successful. The welfare of either species in this model should not be overlooked and therefore it is not a technique that is recommended unless the pair can be kept under observation.

Training Sheep and Cattle Dogs

The training of stock dogs begins with the selection of the right dog. Breeding qualities are of paramount importance and the dog must be selected for the type of work it is suited to. By selective breeding farmers have been able to develop breeds and strains that find working stock intrinsically rewarding .

Training a Sheep Dog (Austin, 1973, 1982).

This discusses one successful method of training a sheep dog. Trainers are encouraged to build early training around the dog's natural abilities and to encourage its interest in working sheep.

1. Exposure: This means putting the pup down in the presence of sheep and noting when he starts to work the sheep. The age could be six to 12 weeks or more, and once a pup has started to show interest it rarely stops, provided it is not overworked. One to 11⁄2 minutes exposure is long enough to leave the pup on the ground with the sheep. When a command is given to the dog it must sound authoritative.

2. Teaching basic commands: ‘Come’ and ‘sit’ are taught first. Most dogs learn ‘come’ if used at feeding time and problem dogs can be put on a training rope (about 10 m long) and restrained from running away. ‘Sit’ can be taught by pulling down gently on a cord attached to the collar. A kind word rewards the dog and each lesson should be short. ‘Heel’ can be taught by leading on the left hand side; if the dog gets in front direct him with the training cord and command ‘heel’. If he runs around, swing a stick (about 2m long) from left to right in front of your own legs as you walk and as the dog bumps into it he will learn not to walk ahead. ‘Stop’ is commanded as you stop walking and a training stick can help.

‘Here’ and ‘behind’ are two valuable commands; the former moves the dog in an anti-clockwise direction and the latter in a clockwise direction. The lesson can be taught with or without sheep present. ‘Behind’ – having taught the dog to sit, sit him about 2m in front of you while you hold the training cord in the right hand and the training stick extended to your left. Take a step to the left and command ‘behind’ and pull gently on the cord to indicate direction. ‘Here’ is the opposite. Stick in right hand and cord in the left hand. As the dog learns the commands he will move from left to right and the position of the sheep will not affect whether he moves clockwise or anti-clockwise.

‘Get up’ can be taught by showing the dog that you want him to climb up on a bale of wool, for example. You may be able to encourage a dog to bark on a command of ‘speak’, but some sheepdogs may be silent when working sheep.

The training procedure then involves directing the dog's heading instinct into a pulling exercise and allowing the dog to work sheep with the least amount of discipline. This develops a dog's self-confidence, requires the dog to make its own corrections, and helps to develop balance and control. As the dog becomes proficient at pulling, the distance from the handler to the mob can be increased.

In pulling, the dog is on the opposite side of the stock from the handler, wherever the handler goes. As the distance increases, the dog learns to look more into the distance for his master.

In driving, the dog is on the same side of the stock as the handler and requires more commands than pulling, so this is left until a later stage in a pup's development.

A dog, after training, may be able to cope with 500 to 2,000 sheep, depending on the sheep, the terrain and what he has to do with them. The important thing is to build up a close relationship with your working dog and to be consistent.

Training a Cattle Dog (Scanlon, 1981)

K. Scanlon is an Australian Cattle Dog breeder and trainer. This is a brief outline of her method. As with the sheep dog, selection of the right dog is important. Some dogs are more physically suited to take long distances and others are more suited to yard work and loading.

The cattle dog bites by nipping behind the heel of the foot that is carrying the weight and immediately drops flat to the ground, letting the hoof sway over his head. The cattle dog has a flat head between the ears to aid this ducking exercise and also has acute hearing. A powerful jaw and clean scissor bite are essential. The best method of getting young pups (about eight weeks of age) to be work-minded is to run them with older dogs – if this is not possible, the pup will copy you so let it watch how you work the cattle.

First, the pup should be acquainted with the work environment; the noises and smells. Scanlon (1981) suggests the use of a leather collar, as choker chains can be dangerous for working dogs. Basic obedience exercises should be taught first, similar to those for the sheep dog. Praise is an important reward.

Start the dog on a long lead in a small yard with one or two cows. Drive the cows from one yard to the next allowing the pup to follow you and guiding him with the lead. He will not take long to learn as his instincts will do part of the job. If the pup will not move toward the cows on his own accord, use a long stick and herd them around the pen, but do not let them threaten the pup. Tell the pup in an excited voice to ‘get the cows’ and praise him when he does. Always teach the pup to get to the cows from behind so that he is in a position to nip from behind, if necessary. Do not let him start off by coming to the front of the cow, as he will get hit very quickly. Any tendency to swing on the cow’s tail should be curbed immediately. Barking should be discouraged while working and you should always have control over your dog. Gradually get the pup used to different areas and varying sized pens, as well as different sized herds. This will develop his concentration. The whole training process requires a mixture of tolerance, firmness and fairness with praise for work well done.

Training Guide Dogs

(Holdsworth, Royal Guide Dogs for the Blind Assoc. of Aust.; Conron, 1981; Lane, 1981; Pfaffenberger et al 1976)

Guide dogs are bred mainly for their temperament and initiative. Australian guide dogs are Labradors bred by the Royal Guide Dogs for the Blind Association (Australia).

The first part of the training program begins at six weeks when pups are placed in private homes to encounter multiple novel environmental stimuli before the end of their socialisation period. This is called the ‘puppy walking’ scheme and has been one of the most successful ways of producing a dog of the right temperament to train as a guide. The pup is provided with as many contacts as possible, e.g., children, adults, other pets. Once house trained, the pup is allowed to sleep in a bedroom or on a landing, since guide dogs are never far away from their owners.

Discipline is very important and is taught right from the beginning. The dog is conditioned to as many situations as possible: it is walked on the pavement to accustom it to pedestrians and motor traffic, taken on trains, buses, in cars to get it used to transport, taken to noisy railway stations, busy shopping centres and conditioned to lifts, swing doors and escalators.

The ordinary pet dog trots to heel, but the future guide dog must be encouraged to lead the way and walk on the left because the blind owner holds the harness with the left hand. It is encouraged to walk with the head held up looking out for obstacles and potential threats.

At 12 months of age, the dog is returned to the kennels to commence Guide Dog Training. After about three weeks in the kennels it can be predicted which dogs will make suitable guide dogs.

The training period establishes routines of basic obedience such as walking down the middle of a pavement and sitting at every kerb. Praise and repetition are the basis of training, and the dog will usually be worked for half to one hour periods over familiar routes, twice a week, until it is consistent in its responses. The dog is trained to ignore distractions such as food, balls being thrown and other dogs in its vicinity. Only when the dog is completely at ease working in harness on the open street will it be trained in traffic.

Traffic training consists of teaching the dog that an approaching vehicle is a signal for it to stop or refuse the command from the owner to go forward. A stationary vehicle is a signal that the dog may go forward.

Training also includes avoidance of all obstacles that would impede a blind person's progress and is carried out in both quiet residential streets and busy shopping areas. The dog is taught to cope with any unusual obstruction on the pavement such as a parked vehicle and taught to respond to potentially dangerous traffic situations.

The qualities of a good guide dog include:

1. Stand about 48 cm at the shoulder to maintain the necessary balance between dog and owner.

2. Must be physically fit and able to walk up to 20 km per day at the normal pace (although in reality very few visually impaired handlers undertake this sort of journey with any regularity).

3. Must be reasonably bold and free from nervous suspicion and have no aggressive tendencies.

4. Must be intelligent with a personality that makes it willing to please, and it must not respond to pats.

Considerable effort and time is taken to match the blind person with the guide dog and they are then trained together.

Training a Pet Dog

The obedience training mentioned for sheep and cattle dogs is similar to that for a pet dog. Two theoretical approaches are used to train dogs in the desired obedience behaviours (Vollmer, 1980).

Inducement Training

Inducement training shapes and reinforces behaviours that at first approximate the desired goal behaviours. Through further selective reinforcement and shaping, the dog's behaviour eventually meets the handler's expectations. Psychologists identify this process as a form of operant conditioning. Teaching a dog to lie down on signal is an example of an inducive or operant procedure. The procedure could be as follows: the handler places the dog at his left side in a sitting position, with a food treat or special toy in which the dog has shown interest, in his right hand. The handler places his left hand over the dog's shoulder and simultaneously moves his right hand onto the floor in front of the dog's nose while saying ‘Down, Rover’. The left hand puts gentle pressure on the shoulder while the right hand provides a visual signal, while also eliciting a response from the dog. As soon as the dog is lying down, the treat or toy is presented while verbal praise is given by the handler. This provides the reinforcement for the desired behaviour.

Inducement training has also proved to be very reliable for training whales, dolphins and circus animals.

Force Training

NB: Advances in animal training are such that inducements are now generally accepted as the most effective and humane means of shaping any animal’s response. Certainly pet dogs are most readily trained using this approach, although it is now usually called reward-based training or training based on positive reinforcement. Again this account of training is offered as a historical perspective and readers are advised that more current discussions of best practice in animal training are available online at www.animalbehaviour.net

Force training or escape/avoidance learning is characterised by setting up the learning situation so that the animal must show a preselected behaviour to avoid an unpleasant or aversive stimulus. At first the animal learns only to escape the aversive stimulus but after several trials should learn to avoid it by performing a specific action desired by the trainer. Teaching the dog to lie down on a signal could follow these steps: the handler places the dog on his left side in a sitting position. The training leash, attached to the dog's training collar, is run under the instep of the handler's left foot, then held by the handler with both hands, waist high. A verbal signal ‘Down, Rover’ is given while the hands snap up hard on the leash (aversive stimulation) forcing the dog down to the floor. The dog is then petted and verbally praised as soon as it is lying down (reinforcement). After several trials the dog may begin to lie down as soon as the verbal command is delivered and before the leash is snapped up (avoidance). This method usually leads to fast acquisition of the desired response. While it may be a quick method it can produce undesired stress reactions such as body tremors, depressed body postures, tucked-under tail, flattened ears and dilated pupils. These indicators are significant since they suggest that the handler is causing a fear response in the dog; such an outcome is contra-indicated since it undermines the human–animal bond and reduces the dog’s likelihood of offering novel (e.g. more complex) responses in the future.

The Jeffery Method of Horse Training: To break in a horse for riding

(Blackshaw et al.,1983; Kirk, 1978; Wright, 1973)

This is an old Australian technique that makes use of several behavioural principles, including the understanding of horse behaviour, the reinforcement for desired behaviour and the use of flight-distance principles. Significantly it is a technique that incorporates the advance and retreat method often attributed to the current wave of horse whisperers. Clearly, because the Jeffery Method employs considerable aversive stimuli in the form of a stricture around the neck and ‘bucking out’ (see below), it should not be used by novices and demands that the horse is never left unsupervised. It is important that the trainee horse is taught one item at a time so the procedure follows:

1. Teaching the horse to stand still using a rope (about 7 m) that is a free-running or slip noose around the horse’s wind-pipe right under his jaw. Once this is on, the trainer can begin to control the .horse with the Jeffery Lunge. The handler is at right angles to the horse’s front legs and makes the lunge forward of that point. This pulls the horse off balance and the rope noose pulls tight for a second and is immediately released. The horse is lunged alternately right and left, and the Jeffery Lunge teaches a horse that relief of pressure on its wind-pipe and neck occurs when it turns and faces the handler.

2. The second step is to approach the horse and gain his confidence. As the handler approaches the flight distance of the horse, the horse begins to feel pressured and may start to rear. As soon as this happens, the handler should retreat and take the pressure off the horse. By the gradual process of advance and retreat, and talking gently to the horse, it will finally allow the handler to come close.

3. The next stage is to climb on the horse’s back, and again the advance and retreat method is used. By hooking the elbow firmly over the horse’s wither, body weight is applied. This prepares the horse for mounting. Firm rope discipline must be applied if the horse moves away.

4. The horse is then acquainted with the saddle, and if the handler is mounted on a quiet coacher horse, this will reduce any nervousness.

5. The horse can then be bridled so he can become used to the bit.

6. Saddling the horse follows and he is left in a pen by himself and encouraged to move by throwing a clod of earth into the pen. He can ‘buck out’ under the saddle, but must realise that the saddle is there to stay. Once this is accomplished the horse rarely bucks with a rider.

7. The trainee horse is then ridden, still using the lunge rope around the horse’s neck for control.

8. The next step is to use a running rein to mouth the horse and teach him to back. A neck rope (about 5 m) is kept on the horse throughout this training, so that the handler can restrain the horse at all times. This eliminates the flight instinct that would occur without the rope, and relaxes the horse.

9. Riding with reins follows and within several days the horse can be ridden in the paddock.

Throughout the whole process, horse and man are developing a bond built on confidence and not fear. Probably one of the most useful things about this method is that it is easily taught and easily learnt.

No matter what animal is being trained, it will be successful only if the bond between the trainer and the animal is close and the trainer understands the behavioural cues of the animal.

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